Environment Stories & News

Jennifer Trent

IWRC’s Jennifer Trent to serve on the Des Moines Climate Action & Adaptation Plan Technical Advisory Group

Jennifer Trent of the Iowa Waste Reduction Center will be contributing to Des Moines's first Climate Action & Adaptation Plan.
Union High School students transplant a flat of native prairie seedlings at Irvine Prairie near Dysart

High school students assist with transplanting project at Irvine Prairie

Union High School students transplant a flat of native prairie  seedlings at Irvine Prairie near Dysart

Students from a Northeast Iowa high school will help the University of Northern Iowa’s Tallgrass Prairie Center (TPC) with transplanting native prairie seedlings at Irvine Prairie in rural Dysart.

Opportunities to reduce food waste in the 2023 Farm Bill

Iowa Waste Reduction Center recognized for contribution to food waste reduction efforts in 2023 Farm Bill Report

Opportunities to reduce food waste in the 2023 Farm Bill

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) and the Iowa Waste Reduction Center (IWRC) were recently recognized for their contributions in efforts to reduce food waste in the U.S.

Fighting Food Waste graphic

Iowa Waste Reduction Center to host Fighting Food Waste event

Fighting Food Waste graphic

Join us for an evening of education, entertainment and advocacy from 5 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, April 19, when the he University of Northern Iowa’s Iowa Waste Reduction Center (IWRC) presents Fighting Food Waste the Iowa Culinary Institute at DMACC, located at 2006 S Ankeny Blvd, in Ankeny.

Cedar Valley Green Business Competition

UNI to host inaugural competition of ideas to increase sustainability and reduce waste

The University of Northern Iowa will host its inaugural sustainability competition on March 31, where participants will submit their ideas on how to reduce landfill waste for a chance to win a $500 cash prize, with additional prizes for UNI students who take second and third place.

Green Brewery Logo

UNI center certifies 31st Iowa brewery for sustainability efforts

Worth Brewing in Northwood, Iowa just became the 11th brewery in Iowa to achieve the Gold Certification from the Iowa Green Brewery Certification Program (IGBC).
UNI students in the field studying monarch butterfly habitat.

Helping save the monarch butterfly

Four UNI students are taking part in field research operated out of UNI’s Tallgrass Prairie Center this summer to help prevent the rapid decline of the monarch butterfly.
Members of Green Iowa AmeriCorps take a water sample.

AmeriCorps environmental program at UNI continues to grow

UNI’s Green Iowa AmeriCorps program recently received a $1.1 million federal grant that will fund thousands of statewide community environmental service projects. The three-year grant will support 114 service members who will partner with 24 organizations across Iowa to carry out projects in residential energy efficiency, environmental education, land restoration and water quality.  
UNI AmeriCorps members conduct water quality testing in Cedar Falls.

UNI AmeriCorps program combats COVID-19 while fighting for environment

The empty gallon milk jug landed with a thwack as it slapped against the placid surface of a stretch of Dry Run Creek near the Cedar Falls Visitor Center.

The jug, used to capture a sample of water for quality testing, was attached to a string held by University of Northern Iowa junior Logan Gray. He was perched about 15 feet above the creek on a trail bridge, struggling to propel the buoyant plastic container through the stubborn surface tension of the Cedar River tributary.

Erin Brockovich

An interview with Erin Brockovich

Erin Brockovich, then a single mom and law clerk, became a household name after an Oscar-winning film starring Julia Roberts told the story of her dogged investigation into groundwater contamination in Hinkley, Calif. and the historic class-action lawsuit that followed. On Feb. 25, Brockovich gave her talk “The Power of One” in the Great Hall of the Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center.